"Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering," Gen 4:4.
      4 "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous (justified – credited as born again), God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead is still speaking." Heb 11:4.
    Observe these significant features of Abel's offering:

      Abel's offerings revealed that God had taught and demonstrated this procedure of worship in the presence of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Abel learned how to worship God from his parents (for the most part, we would think), and Adam and Eve learned it from God. Unequivocally they were taught in detail in the Garden when the covenant (testament) was confirmed.
      God has concealed much of His covenant information from the wise and prudent of this world, but He wants His faithful covenant people to know fully and accurately what His last will and testament says, Deu 6:1-8; Isa 1:3-6; Lk 19:41-44. Many times through Paul, God said "I would not have you ignorant," Rom 11:25; 1Co 12:1; 2Co 1:8; 2:11; 1Th 4:13.
      Enoch was given explicit information about Jehovah, the testament Testator, returning to the earth with myriads of deified saints to judge all creation, Ju 14-15.
      Job understood that his Redeemer-Testator was alive and would stand on the earth in divine redemption victory to judge the world in the last day, Job 19:25-27.
      Abraham desired to see the day of the Lord, was given a grand view of it, and was glad, Jn 8:56. Did Abraham get only a fleeting glimpse, or was he given a broad view of the Redeemer-Testator in divine glory on the throne of His glory, as the queen of Sheba saw the glory of king Solomon? Mt 25:31.
      Jacob saw the Lord clearly in awesome glory standing at the top of a stairway into heaven, and the angels ascending and descending with great joy.
      Jacob again saw the Lord face to face, actually wrestled with the Lord, and prevailed as one who has power with God and with men, Gen 32:24-31.
      See how God revealed Himself and His covenant purpose through Moses, David, Isaiah, Daniel: God wants us to know about Him and His salvation.

      "Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering," Gen 4:4.
      The "flock" usually meant sheep or goats, which God designated as "clean" animals and acceptable for food and for sacrificial worship, Lev 11. God is very specific and strict in what is holy and what is not holy, what is acceptable worship and what is not. He accepted Abel's sacrifice, but rejected Cain's offering. We must keep in mind that, without exception, what we feel, say, and do determine our state of being in eternity and for eternity.
      Abel offered clean animals without blemish as God had taught and demonstrated in the Garden of Eden. These sacrifices represented the Testator dying according to the last will and testament for the sins of the world. Likewise, from the Garden of Eden (Ju 14-15), the covenant people have been taught to present their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, so that Christ may be seen in and through us as holy and acceptable to God. This is not merely a New Covenant requirement, but has been a standing ordinance from the beginning: "You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy," Lev 11; Rom 12:1-2; 1Pe 1:15; Ju 14-15.

      "Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering," Gen 4:4.
      The emphasis at this point is on the "firstborn," and the "birthright" of the firstborn. The Bible says that the man is the head of the home and the church because he was created first, 1Ti 2:12-13; 3:1-2; Eph 5:23-33; 1Co 11:1-16. Though God made exceptions with Isaac (Gen 17:15-21) and Jacob (Gen 25:23), who were not firstborn sons, the rule stands firm with the faithful covenant people of Israel and the church being predestined to receive the firstborn sonship and the birthright of the firstborn Son together with Christ, Ex 4:22-23; Rom 8:28; Gal 4:21 thru 4:5; Eph 2:10-16; 3:6; Col 3:15; Heb 12:23.
       God will have a kingdom of firstborn sons who will share the divine firstborn sonship with Christ, Rom 8:28-30. God will also have "servant" sons who will not be firstborn divine sons, but will be mere flesh sons eternally, Gal 4:19 thru 5:5; Heb 12:8. An "illegitimate" son (Heb 12:8) is a mere flesh son: a saved person cut off from the covenants, or a saved Gentile outside the covenants, Mt 15:22-28; 18:17; 1Co 3:15; 2Ti 2:20. There will be many nations of these flesh servant sons on the new earth, Rev 21:23-26; 22:2. This was God's intent when He created the nations, that they would be eternally ruled over by the faithful covenant sons, Ex 19:4-6; Deu 7:6-11; 26:16-19.

      "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead is still speaking," Heb 11:4.
      16 "Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the Law (Covenant), but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all," Rom 4:16.
      God's works, the Holy Spirit's works, grace works, and faith works are all "good works" and are all the same, 1Co 15:10; Phi 2:12-13; Mt 10:19-20; Heb 4:16; 11:1-40; 12:28; Ja 2:17-26; 1Pe 4:10. All the works of faith are the works of grace (which are "good works," Rom 4:15; Heb 11), and we are commanded to do "good works," Mt 5:16; Eph 2:10; Ti 3:8.
      These good works are the opposite of Law works, flesh works, and our works, which are all "dead works" before God, Rom 11:6; 3:20; 4:4-6; Eph 2:8-10; Ti 3:6; Heb 9:14. We must understand the difference between good works and flesh works. Not all works are good works and not all works are bad works. If the works are by grace through faith, they are good works; and we are created in Christ Jesus (metaphorically in the body of Christ) to do good works, Eph 3:10; Ti 3:8; Mt 5:16.

      "Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering," Gen 4:4.
      Abel did this by grace through faith. It was a righteous act on his part (Heb 11:4), and reveals that Abel was of the first of the Old Testament saints who walked daily by grace through faith. As with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob later, Abel chose the strait and narrow way (Mt 7:13-14), while Cain chose the broad way of selfish, flesh interests, Rom 8:13.
      The strait and narrow way is the holy covenant way that leads to divine life, while the broad way is the anti-covenant way of sinful flesh satisfaction that leads to eternal destruction and punishment away from the covenants and away from the covenant promises of divine life in the divine state of being.

      "Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.
      29 "Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brethren, And let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!," Gen 27:28-29.
      This is a very brief statement of the blessing and benefits of the birthright, and is precisely what is often repeated and expanded in the covenant promises, Ps 8:3-6; 1Co 3:21-23; Gal 4:21-31. The covenant people have not yet obtained to the full image of God (the divine state of being), projected by God in the creation of man, Gen 1:26-27; 2:24; Eph 1:22-23; 3:19; 4:24; 5:31; Col 1:19; 2:9-10; 3:10; Jn 17:21-23.
      Adam and Eve were created only partially in the image of God, with a mind and conscience to believe and obey in view of obtaining the full divine image of God in the resurrection, as seen in the passages just referenced. Christ was not only a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but indeed "before" the foundation of the world, Eph 1:4-5; 2Ti 1:9; Ti 1:2; 1Pe 1:18-20. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil were placed in the Garden of Eden, not by accident, but to signal and initiate God's covenant discipline for mankind. This discipline is designed to prepare the overcomer for the firstborn sonship in the fullness of the divine image of God.
      The birthright of the firstborn son is precisely what is promised to the overcomer in covenant discipline. The rulership promised in the birthright is to jointly rule over all the works of God's creation, Ps 8:3-6; Heb 2:5-14. Abraham desired to see the day of the Lord: he saw it, and what he saw was the human-now-divine Seed of the woman ruling over all the creation of God, and sharing that rulership with myriads of saints who qualify as overcomers to share the firstborn sonship through covenant disciplinary training.
      Abel qualified for the birthright simply by faith obedience, but it cost him his life in the prime of life. We, too, must take up the cross and die daily to qualify for this inexpressible divine state of being.

      "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead is still speaking," Heb 11:4.
      Abel was a sinner like all of us: simply put, he was justified by grace through faith works, like all faithful covenant people are, Heb 11. Justification is not a once-for-all experience, but a progressive and cumulative experience accompanying every proper act of faith. Abraham was a believing saved person long before Gen 15:6 (Act 7:1-4; Heb 11:8; Gen 12), and was being cumulatively justified, as Abel was, by every act of faith by grace, Rom 4:1-25. With every proper act of faith, God credits more of His righteousness, His divine nature, to the covenant believer.
      Justification in this life is an accounting (or reckoning) action on God's part, by which God credits His divine righteousness to the covenant people by grace through faith each time they believe and obey. We are to be hungering for, thirsting after, and seeking God's divine righteousness, which is generic for God's divine kingdom (Kingdom of divine beings), Mt 5:6; 6:33; 25:31-46; Gal 5:5; 2Co 9:10; 1Ti 6:11; 2Ti 2:22; 4:8.
      In close harmony, the unfaithful covenant people are warned explicitly that they will lose the divine righteousness credited to them, and it will not be remembered to their credit in the judgment or ever thereafter, Eze 3:20-21; 18:24; 33:12-13. We do not possess that divine righteousness yet: it is recorded to our credit in God's record books, and if we are not faithful by grace through faith, we will lose what we have wrought, 2Jn 8; Rev 3:11; Mt 13:12; 25:25-30; Lk:19:11-24.
      In justification, God credits His divine nature to the faithful covenant believer. However, the covenant people were under condemnation and counted as servants until the human body of Christ was born of God in His resurrection, Gal 4:1-7; Col 1:18; Rev 1:5; Act 13:29-33; et al. Then the covenant people, as the body of Christ, were counted as deified members of the deified body of Christ, 2Co 5:16-17; 1Co 6:15-17; Eph 4:11-16,22-24; Col 2:9-10; 3:10.
      The covenant people of the Old Testament ate the Passover lamb, the unleavened bread, the manna, and through the priests they ate of the sacrifices and the twelve loaves of showbread, which portrayed the people as eating Christ, as we do in the Lord's Supper. This represented them becoming "one" with Christ as His divine bride people, which we will continue to see many times over in the Old Testament.